Radio Days

Before the invasion of television around 1950, everybody watched 'situation comedies' on the radio. Of course they didn't really watch them, but I do remember when I was a little kid, staring intently at the radio and wondering how they got all those little people in there. One of those shows back then was called Fibber McGee and Molly, and it featured a running gag called 'The Closet'. The point of this gag was that every time somebody opened the McGee's hall closet, all the crap that had been stuffed in there would come crashing out in a loud cacophony, and bury the person who opened it. It must have been very funny because the show ran from 1935 until 1958. I would think that gag would have got stale long before that, but some people like regularity in their entertainment.

This morning I had what I refer to as a 'Clutter Attack'. I opened one of the cabinets in Mark's kitchen, (yes, I have deeded the kitchen over to him) to get the bag of dry cat food so that I could refill the cat food canister. I gently tugged on the bag, but it resisted being pulled from the cabinet, so I firmed up my grip and gave it yank. It was like the Pacific tectonic plate had met the North American tectonic plate. At first a couple of things came crashing out, and I tried to stem the flow. The more I tried to stop it the more it all came crashing out, causing me to have my 'Clutter Attack'. In a fit of anger I started cursing, and yanked and pulled on every piece of shit I could get my hands on. Paper plates, canisters of ancient macaroni, gloves, a mop head, various instruction manuals, a piece of cat poop (don't ask), jars of mayonnaise, ketchup, and finally a waffle iron that I didn't even know existed, came tumbling out. I ended up throwing a lot of it away, and then put the junk that was left back in the cabinet in an orderly fashion. I know that Mark will mess it all up within a month, but at least I can get the cat food out without being crushed. What I don't get, is how was that so funny back in 1935?